Though he's thousands of miles from the New Orleans Saints' facility, his read on Drew Brees' demeanor is dead on.

"He's treating today like they're 4-0,'' Rivers said Monday, a day after the Chargers smoked the Chiefs. "He's very steady. And that's how you bounce back from a situation like they're in.''

While the mood is groovy at the first-place Chargers' digs, the Saints are shoveling nonstop to escape their hole. It's a predicament that's hard to believe, but then again, much of what happens on Bourbon Street is head-shaking.

Brees, the record-setting quarterback, is leading a 0-4 New Orleans squad, and we write that without empty Hurricane glasses at our feet.

Not that Rivers would chug one with us. But he'll toast his former teammate's consistency, knowing that Brees isn't panicking.

"On a Drew Brees team, with what they've been though, you can't ever count them out of anything,'' said Rivers, who sat behind Brees during his first two seasons in San Diego. "We'll get their best and we've got to prepare to make sure that we give them our best."

The Chargers had the best of both gunslinger worlds with Brees and Rivers having lockers side by side. But eventually one had to go, and Brees drew the short straw after general manager A.J. Smith went eeny, meeny, miny, mo.

But don't shed a tear for Brees.

He became and remains a legend in New Orleans, and yeah, he played some pretty good football. Brees helped heal the city's wounds sustained from Hurricane Katrina, and that shiny Vince Lombardi Trophy in the Saints' lobby is covered with his fingerprints.

Rivers is accumulating the statistics, if not the required hardware, that underscore his elite status. And though he's never shy about giving Brees a head nod, it's clear that his respect for him didn't transfer into a long-term friendship.

That's fine, and not surprising. Rivers still stings from riding the pine those first two seasons, a stint in which he threw but one touchdown and one interception.

"We're so different,'' Rivers said. "I think that every quarterback is just a little bit different in our approach to the game and the way we think and talk about the game. But then again, you learn things and you take things that are just about being a pro.''

Brees is even-keeled. Rivers is ever excitable

"I'm a little more emotional and it's harder for me to keep as steady, but that's one thing that I did learn from him,'' Rivers said. "I appreciated being able to watch him those first two years. The competitor in me wished that I had been playing from the first snap as a rookie, but I do appreciate seeing it from the sidelines."

The argument remains compelling about whether the Chargers kept the right quarterback; both are top-shelf variety. We don't fault Smith for picking Rivers; we do wonder why he didn't get more value before letting Brees bolt.

That's written knowing that Brees was a free agent with a mending throwing shoulder when Smith tossed him aside after the 2005 season.

But there was nothing stopping Smith from trading Brees after he won the 2004 AFC West title, when his market value was high and Rivers, Smith's obvious favorite, was on the roster.

Of course, that's Chargers' spin under the bridge. Brees, if nothing else, was the path the Chargers took to respectability and the playoffs, their first postseason visit in eight seasons.

Rivers remembers those days, when Sundays belonged to Brees. He was shut off from the field, but he didn't shut down his learning process.

"The way we prepared and did the same thing every week is the one thing that I took from him the most,'' Rivers said. "We could have won on a Monday night or been beat, and he was going to do the same thing. His demeanor never changed. He could have thrown three interceptions and it was like he had thrown three touchdowns, or vice versa. And I think that's something that filters down through the locker room.''

Brees continues to abuse secondaries, as he's among three NFL quarterbacks with double-digit touchdown passes this season. He has 10, and when he flings No. 11 on Sunday ---- he will, don't worry ---- it'll mark his 48th straight game with a scoring heave, breaking John Unitas' league standard.

"It's impressive when you think about how many games that is in a row throwing a touchdown,'' Rivers said. "He's broken a lot of records in the past few years and he's a heck of a player. I was with him in the early part of his ascent to the level he's at. So it's been fun to see where he's gone and what a great player he is."